James Horsley (2/14/2014)
I still haven't gotten to the point where I don't install anything in the base layer operating system, but I hope to get there at some point.
I mainly don't install stuff to the host machine now on my desktop - on my notebook I do because it is a bit of a hassle always having to fire up VM's for things. The real benefit is when you upgrade - just copy over the VM's and away you go (actually I also use removable hard disk caddies so no copy either).
I am also doing the same, I have nothing installed on my host, since using windows 8.1 and have projects to visual studio 6, use multiple VMs to emulate windowsxp, windows7, sql server, etc..
They are very easy to raise, clone without reinstalling anything